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Preparation
30 minutes
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Cooking
5 hours
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Difficulty
Medium
Bánh tét is an extremely popular cake among Vietnamese people during Tết holidays and has become a specialty in many regions, including the Mekong Delta. Let’s get into the kitchen with TasteVN to make the unique and special Bánh tét chữ to treat everyone during these Tết days.
Ingredients for Bánh tét chữ For 4 people
Mung beans 1 kg Glutinous rice (golden flower variety) 3 kg Coconut milk 600 ml Pandan leaf extract 400 ml Purple leaf extract 800 ml Sugar 750 gr Salt 1 tablespoon Filtered water 1 liter Cooking oil 70 ml
How to choose fresh, delicious ingredients
How to choose good mung beans
- You can use both peeled and unpeeled mung beans.
- If you choose unpeeled mung beans, make sure to select beans with shiny, plump skins, without any pests or shriveled ones.
- If you choose peeled mung beans, look for ones that are beautifully yellow, with firm, non-pest-infested beans that have the fragrant scent of mung beans.
How to choose good glutinous rice for making Bánh tét
- You should choose glutinous rice with large, round grains, opaque white color, without being broken or crushed. It is best to buy freshly milled rice, which has a light, pleasant, natural aroma of glutinous rice.
- Avoid buying glutinous rice that has been overly processed, as it has lost many nutrients.
- Do not buy glutinous rice with strange colors or musty smells due to prolonged storage.
How to Make Tet Cake with Letters
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Sauté Sticky Rice (Pandan Leaves, Purple Leaves)
First, add 300ml of coconut milk, 400ml of pandan juice, and 1.5kg of sticky rice into the pan. Then, sauté the sticky rice over medium heat until it expands evenly.
Similarly, add the remaining coconut milk, 800ml of purple leaf juice, and 1.5kg of sticky rice into another pan. Sauté until the sticky rice expands.
Tip: Sautéing the sticky rice first will make it easier to shape the letters and wrap the cake.
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Cook the Mung Beans
Add 1kg of mung beans to a pot and add 300g of sugar, 1 tablespoon of salt, and 1 liter of filtered water. Then boil the mung beans over high heat for about 1 hour until they become soft. Next, use a spoon to mash the mung beans.
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Sauté the mung beans
Add 70ml of cooking oil to the pan, once the oil is hot, add the mashed mung beans and sauté until the mung beans are dry and come off the pan.
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Shape it
First, use the mung beans to form the shapes of the letters you want, then place the purple sticky rice in the middle to form the letters.
Tip: Pack the letters tightly so that they do not fall apart when assembled.
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Wrapping the cake
Lay 2 banana leaves so that the dark side of the leaves is facing up, then add a layer of glutinous rice with pandan leaves on top. Next, place the shaped glutinous rice in the shape of a letter and cover it with another layer of glutinous rice with purple leaves on top.
Then, use your hands to fold both ends of the leaves together, press the rice tightly, and use string to tie around the body of the cake. Next, fold the banana leaves at both ends of the cake and tie them along the body of the cake.
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Boiling the cake
Place the cake in a large pot and fill it with water, then cook for about 5 – 6 hours. During the cooking process, you need to keep an eye on it to add more water to the pot.
After the cake is cooked, remove it from the pot, wash it, and let it dry before cutting and displaying it on a plate.
Tip:- Since one batch of letter-shaped cake will be very large, you should choose a big pot to boil the cake!
- You should frequently check the water level in the pot to prevent it from running dry, which could cause the cake to burn.
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Final Product
So, we have completed the uniquely shaped, beautifully eye-catching Tet cake for the family celebration.
When you eat it, you will feel the sticky, fragrant rice on the outside, and the delicious, rich mung bean filling on the inside.
Above is a detailed guide on how to make the incredibly beautiful and simple letter-shaped Tet cake. Let’s get into the kitchen and start making it. Wishing you success!
